All Rise...

The Charge

Opening Statement

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure has earned me plenty of strange looks in my
time. In 1985, when it was released and I was ten, my family didn't go to many
movies. The only movies I can recall seeing around that time were Disney
animated stuff and The Karate Kid. At home,
the television wasn't used much, so all I really watched was The A-Team
or Knight Rider. I don't think I discovered Pee-Wee until I discovered
Tim Burton, which was when Mars
Attacks! was released. Since I loved that movie so much, I quickly absorbed
his other films. He is now one of my favorite directors, ranking right up there
with Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Woody Allen. I saw Pee-Wee's Big
Adventure for the first time on the Disney Channel, and like every Tim
Burton movie, it was love at first sight. When I told family and friends that I
had just seen it, they gave me strange looks, like I had said I spent ninety
minutes watching a chimpanzee pick his nose. I think some of the strangest
responses came from members of this site, when I mentioned that I was looking
forward to the Pee-Wee's Big Adventure DVD with more anticipation than
any other more "deserving" film, such as Braveheart. My only concern was that
Warner Brothers would mishandle it…

The Evidence

To appreciate Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, you must know a little of the
history of the project, and of its primary participants, Paul Reubens and Tim
Burton. In the late 1970s, Paul Reubens was a member of The Groundlings, an
improvisational comedy troupe, along with other notables such as Phil Hartman
and Conan O'Brien. One of the characters Reubens created was Pee-Wee Herman.
Pee-Wee was an instant hit, and became something of an alter ego for
Reubens—there was no separating the character and the man behind it.
Pee-Wee appeared in an HBO special and was a regular on Late Night With David
Letterman. Reubens and Groundlings buddy Phil Hartman wrote a screenplay
featuring the character, and approached Warner Brothers to produce it. Enter Tim
Burton. Burton took his life-long interest in drawing to the California
Institute of the Arts, where he studied animation. His talents brought him to
work at Disney in the tedious background animation department, where he worked
on The Fox And The Hound. His
superiors recognized his obvious talents, but could also clearly see that he was
not suited to his current job, so they unleashed him on his own projects. This
resulted in the short films Frankenweenie and the stop-motion
animated Vincent (a tribute to his idol,
Vincent Price). Someone at WB saw Vincent, showed it to Reubens, and he
insisted that Burton direct the movie. It was a match made in movie heaven, and
the rest is history.

After Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Burton went on to direct a string of
crowd-pleasing movies—his next two films were Beetlejuice and the wildly
successful Batman. Reubens went on to
his own "children's" show, Pee-Wee's Playhouse. However, the
kid-friendly character would meet his end with Reuben's infamous arrest in an
adult movie theatre in 1991. Reubens' career has never been the same. He's
continued to act, though mostly in supporting roles, the most memorable of which
were as a vampiric lackey in Buffy The
Vampire Slayer and as a flatulent superhero in Mystery Men. Burton has also kept him busy,
with a cameo appearance in Batman
Returns and as the voice of a devilish youngster in The Nightmare Before Christmas.

What is it about Pee-Wee's Big Adventure that I find so appealing?
Well, everything, but I can explain a little better than that. I love the feel
of the movie. Pee-Wee and his friends are kids in the bodies of grown-ups.
They're part of the "real world," yet they're so far out of lockstep
that they seem to exist in their own little microcosm. Burton and his crew gave
Pee-Wee an environment where he seemed no less ordinary than the eggshell-white
paint on my walls. Pee-Wee's house has a firepole, giant-sized toothbrushes,
statues of Abraham Lincoln, and Rube Goldbergian contraptions to make breakfast
(and after all that work to make pancakes and eggs, what does Pee-Wee eat? Mr. T
cereal!). Pee-Wee's Big Adventure isn't devoid of plot, but it doesn't
depend upon it like a "real" movie would. Instead, it's merely a tool
used to serve up inspired lunacy of every size and shape. Pee-Wee's Big
Adventure is a movie that anyone can enjoy. Its humor will not escape
children, while adults will revel in the devious aspects that will go right over
the heads of the kiddies. The humor comes fast and furious, and in all shapes
and sizes. There's visual gags (such as Pee-Wee's bunny slippers sniffing for a
plastic carrot), sly innuendo ("The X-1 needs to cool down." "I'm
a little overheated myself."), and Pee-Wee's classic one-liners ("I
don't make monkeys, I only train them!").

When events thrust Pee-Wee into the "real world," he somehow
manages to survive by his rules. The "event" of which I speak is the
theft of Pee-Wee's bicycle. Pee-Wee loves his bicycle like some men love their
car, or I love my DVD player. When it disappears, his life is ruined. He must do
anything to get it back, so he sets off on a cross-country trip to recover his
bike. On his journey, he meets biker gangs, rodeo clowns, studio executives,
escaped convicts, ghostly truck drivers, and all other manner of scary
individuals. Warner Brothers buys his story and turns it into a
movie-within-a-movie, starring James Brolin as "P.W." and Morgan
Fairchild as his love interest "Dottie," and even featuring Pee-Wee in
a dubbed "cameo" as a bellhop.

There's an important part of the synergy that is Pee-Wee's Big
Adventure that I left out: the music score. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
was the first full-length film scored by Danny Elfman. Elfman was a member of
the group Oingo-Boingo, of which Burton was a huge fan. The score sounds like
circus music shaken around in the subconscious of a clown from hell, and then
played in the peppiest manner known to humankind. In other words, it matches the
movie perfectly. Elfman is my favorite film composer, for the energy and
quirkiness that he brings to the most emotion-affecting aspect of a movie. His
score to Pee-Wee's Big Adventure ranks among his best, along with To
Die For, Mars Attacks!, and Men In Black.

I was afraid that Warner Brothers would screw the pooch with their DVD
release of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. After all, it's a catalog title, and
a cult favorite at best. Never fear, it's a fine release and a worthy addition
to any collection. For the first time, it's presented in widescreen (video
releases presented an open-matte transfer, which revealed some goofs that
shouldn't have been seen). The DVD transfer is 1.85:1 anamorphic. It's crisp and
clear, though a tad grainy or oversaturated at points. Still though, it is very
clean for a movie that is fifteen years old. Audio has been remixed in Dolby
Digital 5.1. The sound mix tends to favor the score, perhaps a bit too loudly at
times, for the music can drown out the dialogue. The surrounds are used mostly
for the music, with occasional directional effects.

Extras consist of a commentary track featuring Tim Burton and Paul Reubens,
an isolated music-only track with commentary by Danny Elfman, deleted scenes,
the theatrical trailer, production sketches, cast and crew biographies, and
several textual areas dealing with the production. The Burton-Reubens commentary
is surprisingly subdued for such lively, creative people. They reflect fondly
upon the experience of making the film. The deleted scenes are the equal of
anything in the film itself, but were cut to trim down the running time.
Especially amusing is the extended version of the chase sequence on the Warner
Brothers studio lot. The biographies are surprising detailed for a WB release,
but you'll notice that there's not a bio for Paul Reubens…only for Pee-Wee
Herman. Taken cynically, that could be construed as an attempt to hide his
sordid past, but I would prefer to think that it was done in the nature of td
score, and I feel it should be mandatory with any movie scred by Danny Elfman
(hey Paramount, re-release A Simple Plan
with a commentary track and an isolated score, and I promise I'll buy a
copy!).

The Rebuttal Witnesses

After gushing about the movie for over 1,400 words, did you really think I'd
have anything negative to say? Well, I wish WB would use sturdier packaging than
the snapper case, because I'm sure I'll watch this movie enough to break off the
snap-tab.

Closing Statement

How have I gone an entire review without saying "I know what you are but
what am I?" or that something was hidden in the basement of the Alamo or
that I know things you wouldn't, couldn't, and shouldn't know? Why don't you
take a picture, it would last longer! Go ahead and scream…we're miles from
where anyone would hear you!